New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday that the city is seeing an increase in positive cases of coronavirus in people between the ages of 20 and 29, calling it a “problem” that needs to be addressed. .
De Blasio, during a press conference Monday, said the city, which was an early epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, is seeing a decline in cases. The mayor reported, for the first time, that there were no new deaths from COVID-19 in a 24-hour period, but warned of a new “trend” of positive diagnoses for younger adults.
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“We are seeing today, even though we have seen a great reduction in the virus in this city, we see a trend that is worrying for young adults,” de Blasio said, noting that the infection rate is increasing in the city by individuals. between the ages of 20 and 29.
De Blasio noted that there are “some increases” in people in their 30s, but that the “20-29” group is where there is “a problem.”
“We see a problem,” he said. “We have to deal with it.”
De Blasio said the city would “duplicate” efforts to reach younger adults, saying they would implement “digital media messages from influencers, a city-wide night of action in outdoor locations where people gather pickup trucks from mobile test, mass gifts. “
“We will do everything we can to reach younger adults to remind them that they are not waterproof,” de Blasio said. “And I think a lot of us can remember when we were in that age range, too often they feel impervious. But everyone who is susceptible is a disease. And of course, everyone, unfortunately, could pass it on to someone they love.”
He added: “So we’re going to double down to make sure that younger adults really follow these precautions that have worked so well for all of us.”
De Blasio went on to say that the city was issuing a “new guide”, asking people to “keep face covers on” while they are inside and people are nearby.
“If you are at work or in a store, you should keep your face covered at all times,” de Blasio said. “A good precaution whenever there are people around … keep it up.”
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De Blasio’s comments come after weeks of city-wide protests in response to the death of George Floyd in police custody in May.
Last week Fox News asked de Blasio’s office if he believed those protests might have caused some sort of increase in COVID-19 cases in the city, something they denied.
“Based on our health indicators, which measure hospital admissions, the number of people in the ICU, and the percentage of New Yorkers who test positive, we have seen no indication of an increase in cases,” Avery Cohen, deputy secretary of de Blasio press.
Cohen added that the number of positive New Yorkers “remains constant at 2 percent, well below the national average” and that, “at this time, we do not believe there has been a resurgence in protests-related cases, it reached its peak over a month ago. “
CDC’s “best estimate” is 40 percent of COVID-19 cases that are asymptomatic
Last month, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo warned that those who had been participating in the protests should “assume” that they are “infected.”
“If you were in one of those protests, I would assume, as a precaution, that you are infected,” Cuomo said last month. “One person, one person can infect hundreds if they were in a protest.”
He added: “You went to a protest, get tested. Tell people to act like you’ve been exposed. “
As of Monday, New York City reported more than 224,000 positive cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began and more than 22,750 deaths.
Fox News’ Gregg Re contributed to this report.
